On 27 June 2016, Elena Valenciano, Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), made the following statement on the killing of Guatemalan human rights defender Brenda Marleni Estrada Tambito:

“I condemn in the strongest terms the killing of Brenda Marleni Estrada Tambito, member of the Coalition of Workers' Unions of Guatemala (Unión Sindical de Trabajadores de Guatemala) and the Union’s Sub-Coordinator of the Legal Aid Commission.

I call for swift reaction by the Guatemalan authorities to thoroughly investigate this murder and bring the perpetrators to justice.

In February 2016 a DROI delegation composed of DROI Vice-Chair Cristian Preda, DROI Vice-Chair Beatriz Becerra Basterrechea, and Hans-Olaf Henkel visited Guatemala. The situation of human rights defenders and the protection they need for their work was a central topic of the DROI mission, and was raised at all levels, and with a very wide range of interlocutors.

The DROI message was clear, and I firmly restate it now: the European Parliament is unequivocal in condemning all forms of violence and intimidation against human rights defenders, whose work is fundamental in peacefully defending human rights across the world, and must be protected.”